Glossary

Glossary

Bilateral cooperation denotes development assistance to a specific partner country. Slovakia’s geographical focus is specified in the “Medium-Term Strategy for Development Cooperation of the Slovak Republic in 2014 – 2018”. Furthermore, bilateral aid projects approved yearly must be in line with the annual plans of bilateral development cooperation

The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) was established in 1961 as one of the working bodies of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It promotes and monitors the commitment to development cooperation within the international community. The DAC is the “guardian” of the ODA definition and reports on aid flows worldwide. Slovakia joined the ranks of its 29 members in September 2013. By setting standards and seeking synergies, the DAC also attempts to contribute to policy coherence and coordination. Moreover, it serves as a platform for knowledge exchange between its members. In so doing, it is making an invaluable contribution to the global mission to achieve the sustainable development goals, including growth, poverty reduction, improvement of living conditions in developing countries and a future in which no countries will depend on foreign aid.

Debt Relief

Debt relief includes cancellation of payment schedules, refinancing or re-organization.

It is a body / institution headquartered in Slovakia that uses public or private resources in its budget to implement development cooperation activities in accordance with the principles defined by the OECD DAC.

The International Aid Transparency Initiative is a platform aiming to enhance the transparency of aid flows intended for development and humanitarian purposes. The rationale is to apply the principle of transparency to ease coordination and thus contribute to the overall effectiveness of development cooperation. IATI’s membership is voluntary. To date, it has attracted 280 established and emerging donors, partner countries, civil society organizations, foundations and other entities obliged to publish complex data on development cooperation activities.

Implementing Entity

The implementing entity denotes the agent – be it a government, agency, foundation, NGO, or international organization – delivering ODA resources to the final beneficiary. In the OECD DAC terminology, it is described as a “channel of delivery”.

The Millennium Development Goals, adopted in September 2000 by the UN General Assembly, bind UN member states to fulfil eight basic development goals. Those include: eliminating extreme poverty, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health, combating diseases, ensuring sustainable development and creating the world’s partnership for development. MDGs serve as a basic reference tool for donors as they are formulating their development policies. They are also a benchmark for measuring progress in improving the conditions of human life.

Multilateral Cooperation

Multilateral development cooperation consists of voluntary and compulsory contributions of a country to international organizations listed by the OECD DAC as ODA-eligible. It is a tool for supporting those developing countries and sectors where it is not efficient to operate on a bilateral basis. Multilateral ODA represents about 80% of Slovakia’s total flows. 10 departments and 3 other central government bodies provide contributions to about 48 international organizations.

Official Development Assistance is defined as flows to developing countries on the DAC’s List of ODA Recipients combined with contributions to ODA-eligible international organizations/financial institutions. ODA is aimed at promoting economic development and welfare in the developing world, is concessional in character and conveys a grant element of at least 25 percent.

OECD

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development is an international organization that currently consists of 34 developed countries defending the principles of democracy and market economy worldwide. It resides in Paris and employs about 2,500 experts in various fields including economic, regional, employment, investment and development policy; social affairs, agriculture, and environment. OECD provides its member governments with instructions and recommendations on how to improve the quality of measures adopted in the different fields of economic and social development and economic performance overall.

Overall Development Cooperation

For the purpose of this website, the overall development cooperation represents the totality of funding spent by a country on ODA-related activities in a designated period. It includes bilateral and multilateral cooperation, including projects labelled as “confidential”, which may contain sensitive information.

It is a beneficiary of Slovak ODA on the DAC List of ODA Recipients. It can be a country, multiple thereof, or a region.

Poverty

Poverty refers to the social status of a person suffering from extreme deprivation and living below the accepted minimum required to meet basic needs. Extreme poverty is understood as a daily intake equal to or less than $ 1.25 (at Purchasing Power Parity). Extreme poverty indicates a lack of basic needs, such as food, drinking water, housing, medication, etc. It is most common in the so-called “developing countries”. Relative poverty describes a situation in which a person’s income and way of life diverge significantly from the average standard of living in the country or region of their origin. It is thus relative to the status of the majority.

The debate on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was launched at the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, which defined priority areas for the donor community to explore. The SDGs will capitalize on the Millennium Development Goals and streamline the post-2015 development agenda. The final set of SDGs will be approved by the UNGA in September 2015.

Sector

Sector specifies the target field for ODA within economic or social development in the partner country benefitting from aid. If development assistance affects multiple sectors, the one receiving the largest part of the funding allocated for the programme or project is reported.

By classifying and coding “forms of assistance”, the OECD DAC distinguishes between different ways in which funding is transferred from the donor entity to the aid recipient. This could include: budget support, project interventions, sending experts (technical assistance), scholarships, funding administrative costs, etc..

The OECD DAC methodology recognizes several types of flows: official development assistance (ODA), other official flows (OOF), private flows (including NGOs, foundations and charities), and private flows on market terms.